Something stirs in the shadows beyond...

I was intending to be fairly regular with some updates on the blog, but you know what they say... time flies when you're having fun. And truth be told, I've been having a lot of fun at the painting challenge which I mentioned in one of my previous posts back in January. More thoughts on that one a little bit later in an upcoming article, which will be a "challenge retrospective" of sorts since the event is ending in a few days.

Instead, what I'm gonna scribble about today is something that has been on my mind way before I even created the blog. Back then I had this idea, took some photos of the thing I wanted to write about, and then my laziness got the better of me and it hasn't seen the light of day since. But a few days ago I got a notification on my phone, you know one of those Google Photos things screaming at you before your morning coffee, "LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID ONE YEAR AGO, YOU USED TO BE SO FUN". So yeah, it's been a year since then and enough is enough, let's write this damn thing.

You also might have noticed that this post has a tag at the bottom named "collection update". As I already somewhat mentioned previously, a lot of the posts on here are going to be me just providing unsolicited updates about my frantic spending of loads of money on Confrontation and I will courteously not take this enjoyment away from you... especially when it is an update of these proportions. 

So back in November 2023, I started talking to one very friendly gentleman on the "7 Hills..." server about acquiring a sizeable chunk of metal from him. For him it was just sitting around untouched, while for me it was a goldmine featuring my favorite army in NIB condition. The deal took almost half a year to organize due to a lot of obstacles, both expected and unexpected. For starters, not only was it the biggest amount of change I dropped on a hobby project, but it was also coming from overseas. Add to that the unexpected passing of one of my parents which threw a total curveball to everything in life and, a small cherry on top, the city I live in decided to update many district postal codes just as we were about to agree on sending the darn thing. Saying that this was an adventure is a serious understatement. 

Welcome home little buddy!

But it was finally here. It did end up just sitting in storage for a long while after I picked it up due to all the life issues, but once my every day difficulty level slightly decreased it was time for a little bit of enjoyment. 

Gotta love a nice box full of beans.

Always a joy opening a tightly packed shipping box.

Hmmm, I wonder...

... I wonder how many of you can guess what is behind door #1? If I didn't know, I'd actually be torn between a few possible models. But if you guessed this one, you pretty much know the entirety of the box, so let's get to it! 

Drum roll please...

Boom!

Yes! Fucking YES! Behind the wraps of mundane cardboard and plastic lies an almost complete collection of the Daikinee range. To me these models are peak Confrontation and what made Aarklash so intriguing. Sure the Wolfen were always striking to look at in all their noble savagery and the Dirz intimidating with their otherworldliness, but there has always been something about the Daikinee that stayed and stirred in my mind. They radiate with an aura of dreamlike mysticism and weirdness, simply by looking at them and not even knowing any of their lore I was completely entranced all those years ago. And today was the day that I finally bring them home.

Oh my sweet, sweet Mandigorn, how long it took you to fly into my arms. If memory serves me well, the Mandigorn was the first Daikinee model I ever saw all those Moons ago. The big chonky boy just captivated me with its design and overall massive presence on the table and has been one of the prime motivators of wanting to collect this army and Confrontation in general. Of all the Daikinee models that I was sporadically seeing for sale online, not once did I see this guy in the wild. Quite a rare bug and I'm so happy to finally own not one, but two of them!

One of the best parts of Confrontation are definitely the named characters, since on top of the fantastic lore of the world and its many factions you also get to unveil small bits of knowledge through the characters and their stories. And of the host of these heroes and legends Maneös stands as one of my absolute favorites. Not to go too deep into the why, but just look at that amazing art, one glance and it just teleports you into this brilliant setting. Real bummer that that is the only non-English card in the lot, but so far I've managed to track down an English version which will hopefully be in my hands soon enough!

The only things missing, to my great sadness yet quite understandably so, are the rarest pieces such as Irul, Erhyl, the Dream Warrior, the VPC Archer, and the not so rare Kurujai. Oh and Kaeliss, if you want to be precise. Sad for sure, but I was more than happy to buy all of this in one go, especially since even the "standard" Daikinee are rare nowadays, so I definitely think this ordeal saved me both time and money in the long run. 

Oh, but before that, a word from our sponsor!

Wisdom cat says: stop spending money on stupid shit.

Sigh...

Even got some recasts... yuck! Irul, a Dream Warrior, Zephyrs and Kurujai. At first I wasn't really sure what to do with these, but thinking about it they'll be useful for trying out a few color schemes!

The final money shot.

Here it is, in all its glory, with a little muck in the bottom row.

And it's a wrap! Finally more than a year later, these unboxing images go online. And one year later all these gorgeous blisters remain NIB. To be quite honest, I love the Daikinee to the point that opening and painting them is anxiety inducing, since I don't know if my skills with the brush will do them justice. But I'll get there, eventually, for now they are resting on my shelves and I harvest great enjoyment just by looking at them. With the 2025 painting challenge on discord coming to a close I think I'll take a break from painting Sessairs and try my hand at a new army. Plenty of choices though, since I acquired a lot more miniatures than what was in the box showcased here... but that is a discussion for a different blog post. Until next time, hope you enjoyed the unboxing!